How Sneezesplosions & Soda Samples Synthesized a Superorganism

This blog post is the first of many “Listening Guides” meant to supply you with a perspective on music I’ve been developing in recent years while sharing the work of artists I find interesting. This perspective is fluid and subject to your own interpretation but remains grounded in the fact that music is art. Especially in today’s digitally-dominated world, I feel that art has been commodified to such a level that we forget this simple fact and don’t think to dig deeper into what we’re listening to…”What do the lyrics mean?” “What’s communicated through the instruments?” “How’d they create that sound?” Music isn’t just this sonic fashion accessory we use to show off for others’ attention or some tool we use to better handle our emotions…but at it’s core, music is a creative expression of someone’s life whether that be their vulnerabilities, their opinions or their desires. Originally, these guides were supposed to be short and sweet, but I had too much fun and am way too much of a perfectionist (except when it comes to grammar and punctuation – you get what I hear in my brain ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) so it turned into more of an interactive case study…whoops. So yes, it’s long and requires effort (omg🙄) but I promise you, if you don’t listen to music this way already, doing so with an approach like this will provide you with a portal into a completely different world. Whether you enjoy it or not is up to you.

Special shout out to these influences for helping me to develop this perspective – all podcasts you should definitely listen to and I will definitely talk about more in the indefinite future:

Song Exploder

Switched On Pop

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Enjoy :)))

 

 

Don’t you miss trick-or-treating? Not so much the candy part (lying to myself), but the part where you wreak havoc on front yards sprinting from house to house with your friends? I’ve been feeling sentimental about my childhood lately and was triggered when one day, Akon’s “Lonely” played randomly at a coffee shop I like to work at. I was reminded of a specific year, where I made the mistake of wearing an oversized, straw sombrero as part of my Halloween costume and forgot to account for the drag it would cause as I ran…long story short, I got left in the dust and was forced to accept defeat as I walked the rest of the neighborhood myself humming the chorus of said song😂. Anyways, the night I got home from the coffee shop, I was inspired to listen to some Akon. Soon after, I cried myself to fell asleep with the music still playing and had the craziest dream…I went trick-or-treating with Akon…and he knew all of the spots to hit up. We got to see Jack Johnson lounging in a hammock on his sand-dusted porch with a bowl of bananarama; Eminem; and of course, Michael Jackson with a mouthful of Hee-Heath😉 Yeah alright, I know I lost half of my readers on that last one so I’ll get to the point. There was one house in the neighborhood Akon and I went to that we seriously considered passing because they went all. out. with their decorations. They were new, unfamiliar and pretty freakin’ weird by most standards. But after realizing neither of us were lonely anymore, Akon and I decided to give them a chance and were rewarded with what seemed like an endless supply of sweets. This earie, candy-mine of a house belonged to Superorganism.

Speaking of Halloween candy, let’s take a moment to reminisce…

 

 

Also, I don’t think this next one received enough recognition during it’s short life and deserves to be resurrected. 

 

Come on. “Swooping the Nation.” Gold.

 

Image Source: Rick and Morty

 

A little background about this sample-slinging ensemble…

• Based in London, England.
• Active since 2017.
• Each member has a stage name within the context of the band (with a very general description of their role in the band):
  • OJ – Orono Noguchi (lead vocals)
  • Emily – Mark David Turner (keyboard/synth)
  • Tucan – Tim Shann (drums)
  • Robert Strange – Blair Everson – (visuals)
  • Harry – Christopher Young (guitar)
  • B – unknown…ooo (backing vocals/odd instruments)
  • Ruby – unknown too…ooo (backing vocals/odd instruments)
  • Soul – Earl Ho (backing vocals/odd instruments)
• Formed after Orono, a Tokyo native attending school in Maine, got interested in a band called The Everson’s and watched one of their gigs in her home city. They bonded over music and memes and the rest is history. More on their story here.
• Their album Superorganism peaked at #4 on the Top Heatseekers (up-and-coming) chart.
• Their song “Everybody Wants to be Famous” peaked at #29 on the Billboard’s Top Alternative Songs chart.
• 7/8 members live together in a house. And yes, they have the same problems all housemates do.

 

IMPORTANT: If you have never watched Superorganism perform, please listen to the song “Nobody Cares” (linked below) before you read the rest of this post!

 

 

Then watch (or skim through), the video below:

 

 

Certainly not what I expected the first time I watched them but they grow an ya fast! More words below.

 

Sneezesplosions

 

“Nobody Cares” is the first song I’m talking about mostly because it’s my favorite/I favor it (ever noticed that?) sonically over their other work and have too many things I want to say about it’s production and my brain feels like one of those huge buckets that fill-up and tip over at water parks trying to explain them all. So I’ll just pick a few.

I have to begin by pointing out the drop. I know, I know. “OmG the DRop is siCk yo.” But seriously…it is…yo. Every time I listen to it, I picture a Godzilla-sized baby cocking back its neck, making a gnarly sneeze face and literally start erupting from its nostrils; both ridiculous and beautiful (btw if someone could capture this image well on a t-shirt, I’d buy it. budget: $20 + unlimited hugs*). Also, it’s not a very noticeable aspect, but you could cut the piece in half and you’d end up with two nearly identical versions of the same song. I’m still learning about song structure and such but it’s not one you come across frequently these days. Ugh, I’m always a sucker for build-ups without drops too. They do this intentionally multiple times leaving you with that Wile E. Coyote moment but never give you the satisfaction of the release. It’s not a ground-breaking technique but I think it’s placed just right in this song. Btw the sound they use in place of the drop is exactly what I’d imagine draining the energy out of a song sounds like (ooh and creating sounds like this is a whole other world itself – look into basic sound design if you’re interested). Ah man, I could go on and on about the samples, lyrics and other musical decisions in this song but I will leave those to myself (for now) and let you all break it down for yourselves! Leave a comment if you’d like to discuss!

*must be in close proximity in order to request

 

Soda Samples

 

Check out their performance at Bob Boilen’s Tiny Desk Concert series. The set list is “The Praun Song”, “Night Time” and “Something for your M.I.N.D.”.

 

 

Imagine brainstorming with this crew… “yeah, so definitely inflatable whales, a coupla sodas and wait, Soul, you got the cup and straw?” lol. I have to highlight “Something for your M.I.N.D.” in this performance too. Though their music may not be best suited for acoustic performances, their creativity and execution is impressive; as displayed during the chorus. Just listen without watching and you’ll see what I mean (hear the birds?).

 

🌝 Eason Association Alert – Intro Synths

 

“The Praun Song” by Superorganism

 

 

vs. “American in Amsterdam” by Wheatus

 

 

Tell me you’re not humming “wow, wow, wow…” in your head rn haha

 

🌝 Eason Association Alert…Again

 

The only reason I know “Amsterdam” is because I played Flash Flash Revolution as a kid (and may or may not still play to this day…). See, I could say that this was is a waste of time and that I could’ve learned a real instrument in the time I spent playing this game, but sometimes you have to invest in odd and obscure hidden talents. Anyways, give the game a shot. It’s DDR for your fingers lol. Link: Flash Flash Revolution

Next up, the full performance from the “Nobody Cares” video from earlier. The setlist is “Something for your M.I.N.D.”, “Everybody Wants to be Famous”, “Nobody Cares” and “Reflections on the Screen”. This is a full band performance which means you can compare this version of “Something for your M.I.N.D.” with the acoustic one you listened to previously.

 

 

Honestly, I have to give props to Emily on the keyboard. Not only is he playing the synth but he’s essentially acting as an onstage producer/mixer. You see him playing with master filters, pitch knobs and volume throughout the performance and as an amateur producer myself, I find it both impressive and impossible.

 

Extra Credit

 

Congratulations^2 (MGMT & Post Malone mashup):

 

 

Ok, gotta show y’all the original version of this next song first. It’s live but electronic so it doesn’t sound much different than the original (plus you get to see some cool Parisians). Song starts 1 min in after an entrance grande by ze vocaliste.

 

 

Might have to write a post on these guys. Next, is the Superorganism remix. Take note of the revised arrangement, atmosphere and drop.

 

 

More soda samples (and turning on a gas burner, biting into an apple, stirring ice in a cup, the classic 8-bit jump sample, and so much more) jump a synthier drop and glitchier overall. Exactly what I’d expect after being fed to the Superorganism.

 

Super Amoeba

 

If you’ve made it this far and invested the time to get to know the amoeba-like sound of Superorganism…(Eason’s brain: “amoeba. simple organism. superorganism? super amoeba. lol super amoeba” )

 

 

Wow, I won’t lie, I just spent 20 minutes creating Super Amoeba. But you know what I mean? Their sound just flows and gloops and propels itself by shoving its “blood” in the direction it’s going. Nope, brain is still on amoebas. Let’s go with it. I think the fact that a group of fairly disjoint musicians floating around in this cytoplasm of life coming together organically to create an expression of life that has never existed before is…completely normal and happens all the time, yet it remains so fascinating to me. (Most) everything in life is evolving…and the sound of music will always reflect that, Superorganism after Superorganism.

I really hope you enjoyed this musical adventure and gained a new perspective on music worth exploring for you. Please show Superorganism some love on their website: https://www.wearesuperorganism.com/ no. Seriously, go to their website. It’s as close to a time portal to the 90’s as you’ll ever get. Play the game. Sign the guestbook. Buy the merch. Or simply show your friends. Any ounce of support helps these artists.

Thanks for looking at my words!

✌️‘n Carrots,

eace